


cherry flavoured chapstick

by icannothinkofaname



Category: Hellblazer, Hellblazer & Related Fandoms
Genre: Bisexual John Constantine, Character Study, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Sexuality Crisis, we fucking hate thomas constantine in this household
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:40:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27206056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icannothinkofaname/pseuds/icannothinkofaname
Summary: Cheryl does her makeup. John watches.
Relationships: John Constantine & Cheryl Masters
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	cherry flavoured chapstick

Cheryl always started with a lip balm. Nothing expensive or fancy. Just a tube of chapstick she'd buy for herself at the store, the change squirreled away from their grocery money. Barely enough to make an indent, but still a secret between the two of them.

( "I won't tell if you won't," she'd say to John, a finger pressed to her lips. He never did. The few moments of conspiracy that existed between them -- when she distracted their dad from his rages, when he cursed the boys at her school when they wouldn't leave her alone -- it was the few times he'd see the Cheryl that existed outside their dad's image of a perfect caretaker and homemaker. One of the few times he didn't feel like a burden on her. He kept those moments close, and took the blame the few times their dad noticed the discrepancies in their receipts. )

Next was the eyes. His favourite part. Smoke coloured eyeshadow, a stark black liner, the mascara he'd smuggled out of the store as a birthday present for her. She was always careful not to go too heavy. It wasn't like she had enough makeup to waste it on exaggerations.

( The first time John tried on her makeup, the guilt of stealing outweighed his fear of being caught. He'd gone as gentle as she did. Just a hint of colour below his eyes, a little mascara to curl his lashes. His hands had been shaking too much to try anything else, anything more complicated than that. But it was nice to see his handiwork in the mirror. Cheryl always looked so confident after she was finished, and that same feeling washed over him. He looked nice. He felt nice.

He let himself bask for all of ten seconds before scrubbing his face completely raw, leaving no trace behind. God only knows what his dad would've done had he been caught. John was already a freak in his eyes. No need to add fuel to his pyre. )

There were usually other steps in between, but the rest of Cheryl's hidden cache had run out two weeks ago. So, with her eyes filled in, she finished the look with a bright red lipstick. Cherry.

( One time when dad was too far gone to give a shit, she'd come back home with a boy. Some stupid kid named Tony, who'd scoffed at the state of their house when Cheryl wasn't looking. John had been looking, though, and John had seen the same shade of red painting the underside of his jaw. It hadn't taken a genius to figure out how it got there. But despite how much he hated Tony's guts, his thoughts weren't of the curses he could give Tony. No, his mind wandered to one of the boys in John's own class. One of the kinds with too much money and not enough sense, the kid who tried to befriend anyone that gave him the time of day. Even John. Even when John routinely told him how and when he could go fuck himself.

What if John put on that bright shade of cherry? What if he left the same sort of mark on his cheek, where the entire world could see it and know exactly who put it there?

John immediately left to his room with a slam of his door, shoving that thought down like he was trying to stab his own imagination with a knife. Nobody would ever see it. Not even Cheryl, not even in the moments of understanding they shared. )

She was finished, ready for her brief respite away from the Constantine house and everything that laid within. She ruffled John's hair as she left. Pressed a finger to her lips. Grinned. Neither would ever tell.

( Alone in his room, John put on his own stick of chapstick, distracting his thoughts back to the taste of artificial cherries. )

**Author's Note:**

> i am going to personally beat the shit out of john and cheryls dad and no force on earth can stop me. also i straight up didn't know what fandom tag to use


End file.
